Typewriter ribbon rejuvenating device



April 17, 1951 R. w. HARRIS TYPEWRITER RIBBON REJUVENATING DEVICE FiledJune 26, 1948 INVENTOR R.W. HARRIS ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 17, 1951TYPEWRITER RIBBON REJUVENATING DEVICE Robert W. Harris, Garden CityPark, N. Y.,'as signor to The Western Union Telegraph Company, New York,N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 26, 1948, SerialNo..35,508 6 Claims. (Cl. 197 171) ThlS'lIlVIliZlOll relates to arejuvenating device for applying ink :to the ink ribbons of typewritingmachines, and more particularly to such a device that is readilyattachable to and detachable from the conventional ink ribbon spool usedin typewriting machines such as a typewriter or 1 telegraph printer.

The useful life of a typewriter ribbon is usually terminated by a lossof the ink or evaporation of the vehicle thereof rather than by injuryto the fabric. Successful rejuvenation of the ribbon involvesreplacement of this loss of vehicle or ink in correct amount properlydistributed and easily applied It has heretofore been proposed to re-inkthe ribbon after unwinding it, but this involved excessive labor andequipment costs. Also,.various devices have been proposed for re-inkingthe ribbon while on the machine, but these have not proved satisfactoryforvarious reasons among which are that the devices unduly complicatethe structure of the typewriter or printerin which they are embodied;the ink is not transferred uniformly to the entire length of the ribbon;in a number of the devices the ink wasdeposited directly in the typeslug path or otherwise applied in a manner which resulted in initialover-inking; and other devices were subject to the disadvantage thatthere Was a transfer of ink when the typewriter or printer was notoperating, thus resulting in an excess of ink localized in certainportions of the ribbon which subsequently gums and fills the type slugsand results in smeared. copy.

Among the objects of the invention are to pro Vide a typewriter ribboninking devicewhich is free from the foregoing objections, and which willdistribute ink automatically and uniformly to the entire length of theribbon in just-the right amount, and in which substantially no transferof ink can occur except while the typewriter or printer is operatingAnother object is to provide an inking device of the character describedwhich isreadily attachable to or removable from a conventional ribbonspool, and which does not interfere with the movements of the ribbonspool or other typewriting machine parts.

Other objects are a rejuvenating device of the character described whichis easily installed without tools and which in general requires no addedmechanism or alteration of existing mechanisms; the device may easily bemaintained in proper inking condition; the inking pad in the devicewhich applies ink to the ribbon is covered so that ink cannotaccidentally get on the 5--4 of Fig. 1; and

2' hands or clothing of the operator; the ink ribbons may be reversed inthe normal manner by reversing spool positions in order to gainincreased life; and copy may be maintained at full new ribbon intensityuntil the fabric of the ribbon fails.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: 7

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of two of the ink ribbon rejuvenators asapplied to the ribbon spools or a telegraph tape printer;

Fig. 2 is a side view of-the mechanism with certain parts in section,looking in the direction of the arrows 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detailed view of one of the ribbon inking attachmentsremoved from theribbon spool; r

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line Fig. 5 is a fragmentarydetailedview showing how the ink is transferred from the inking pad tothe typewriter ribbon.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown the ribbon feedmechanism of a well known type of telegraph tape printer having a typebasket and means responsive to incoming fill permutation code signalsfor selecting andcausing the proper type bars to be actuated forprinting the received characters on a narrow tape t. The printer may beany of various well known types in the art such, for example, asdisclosed in the Morton et a1. Patent No. 1,745,633, issued February 4,1930. Also, the printer may be a page printer such, for example, asdisclosed in the Noxon et a1. Patent No. 2,231,215; issued Feb ruary 11,1941. The ribbon feed mechanism comprises ribbon drive shafts 9 whichrespectively actuate two conventional ribbon spools ID on which thetypewriter ribbon r is alternately wound and unwound, the ribbon passingaround the roller guides {2. As is well known, the ribhop is fed firstin one direction until it is nearly unwound from one of the spools Ill,at which time the direction of feed is reversed, this reversal of thedirection of the ribbon feed being effected at each side of the machineby means of a shaft l3 rotated by a, ribbon reverse arm 14 which isengaged and actuated by a metal eyelet in the end of'the ribbon.

At the printing position the ink ribbon passes through a guide member l5adjacent to the printing roller or platen I 6. The narrow tape it onwhich the incoming message is printed passes between the platen andribbon so that as the ribbon is struck by the type slugs carried by thetype bars which are actuated in response to the incoming signals, thedesired characters are printed on the tape. Guide members 13 and I9 anda feed roller 29 coact with the platen I6 to advance the tape, in thedirection of the arrow,

and keep it properly aligned'during the printing operations. 7

The rejuvenator attachment comprisesa circular metal retainer casing 25having a turned edge portion25ai, Figs. 3 and 4. Received within theedge portion 25a is an inking ring 26 preferably composed of woolenfelt, the felt being retained firmly in position by means of a resilientsplit ring 2?, the ends of which ring overlap as indicated in dottedlines at 21a in Fig. 3. The

of ink will be found sufficient to initially impregnate the felt, theink being added evenly to thefelt around the periphery through themedium of the holes' 32. Whenthe felt is saturated, the

surface 26a will have a shiny wet appearance. If through error too muchink has been added,

excess fluid may be removed with a blotter.

Before installing the rejuvenator on the ribbon spool, care should betaken to see' that the ribbon spools are not bent out of shape; this canreadily face 26a of the resilient felt ring applies ink to. an edge ofthe ribbon r as printing proceeds, in a manner described below.

Secured to the inner surface of the shell 25, as by riveting orotherwise, arethree spring clips 30, the free ends of which are adaptedto resiliently engage the periphery of the outer face of the ribbonspool thereby to clamp the inking device onto the spool, as seen in Fig.4. Fresh ink is added in drops to the rejuvenator felt merely byinserting the snout of a small oil can in each of the several holes-32in'the casing 25. The ends of the clips 30, which are riveted to and lieagainst the innersurface of the casing 25, serve to; space the inneredge of the'split ring 21 a a slight distance from the inner flatsurface of the casing 25 and'thus provide suflicient clearance to enablethe inkreadily to'flow to the inner edge of the felt ring 26 andimpregnate the ring. Various types of inks having the proper fluidityand tinctorial strength may beused with the rejuvenator. glycerylmono-ricinoleate or a diethylene glycol mono-ricinoleate, or a mixtureof these, with from four percent to twelve percent of added soluble dyeof suitable color may be employed,

such as disclosed in the Kline Patent No. 2,435,222,

issued FebruaryB, 1948. Another ink suitable for the purpose maycomprise the following Dye 4% to 15% of above depending on color andintensity desired. 7

Referring to Figs. i and 5, the inner face 253a of the inking feltextends inwardly past the outer edge 10 of the ribbon spool, that is, itoverlaps the face'ofthe spoola distance. preferably from one-sixteenthof an inch to one-eighth of an inch, and this insures that as theribbonis wound or unwound from its spool during operation of theprinter,a wipe-squeeze action occurs at a between the surface 26a and theslightly deflect.- ed contacting edge of the ribbon, which actionslightly compresses or'squeezes the inking felt and places a smallamount of the inking fluid near but not on thetype slug path of theribbon. Travel of the ink across the width of the ribbon is thenaccomplished by capillarity; This wipesqueeze action causes transfer ofink to the ribbon by the movement of the ribbon past the surface Zfia ofthe felt, which is during operation of the machine, but substantially notransfer of inking fluid occurs when the machine is station- Forexample, an ink composed of formula:

v Parts Lard oil 2 Mineral oil SAE 10 2 Oleic acid 1 Mineral seal orspindle oil 1 be "checked by rotating the ribbon drive shaft 9. Theretainer is'held in the hand, felt side up, and then the outer edge ofthe spool is inserted so that it is securely held by the three clips 39.I f'theproper amount of ink has been applied to the felt, and theprinter is operated, a narrow track of fluid willbe found along theouter edge of the ribbon 1". This fluid will in the course of fifteen ortwenty minutes of operation work its way across the ribbon into the typeslug path, and there will be little variation in the intensity. of thetyped characters during the rejuvenating period. or the first hour ofoperation. Whatever differences may be observed will disappear withfurther use, as the fluid equalizes its distribution throughout theribbon length; Sufficient fluid will be transferred from the rejuvenatorto the ribbon in the course of an hours operation of the printer toafford a period of service approximating anew ribbon. When a ribbonagain shows evidence of exhaustion, ink is again applied to therejuvenator by means of a small oil can. Two or three drops in each ofthe holes 32 of the easing will be sufficient to reimpregnate theribbon. As an alternative procedure, one drop of ink may be added atshorter periods, thus maintaining at I all times the inking strength Ofa new ribbon.

Field tests of the rejuvenator in various telegraph ofiicesthroughout/this country have shown that the life of a ribbon used in atelegraph printer is from four to eight times longer than that of anidentical ribbon under the same service conditions, which is notrejuvenated in'the manner disclosed herein.

Preferably Ttwo rejuvenator devices are employed, "one for each ribbonspool as illustrated, but for certain purposes and where the typewriteror printer is used infrequently, one of the devices attached to but oneof the ribbon spools will be found sufficient. While there is shownanddescribed herein a particular embodiment of the invention for thepurpose of illustration, many other and varied forms and uses willpresent themselves to those versed in the art without departing from theinvention which is, therefore, not limited except as indicated by thescope of the appended claims.

I claim: a

1. An inking device for rejuvenating the ink ribbon of a typewritingmachine in which the ribbon is fed to and from a spool during opera- 7tion of the machine, comprising an ink pad having a resilient inkingsurface, means for rotating convolutions of the wound ribbon on thespool but projects into the path of travel of an edge portion of asingle thickness only of the ink ribbon a distance suficient to slightlydeflect said edge portion as it passes across the inking surface toprovide a wipe-squeeze action between said edge portion and theresilient inking surface of the rotatable pad only when the ribbon isadvancing during operation of the machine.

2. An inking device for rejuvenating the ink ribbon of typewritingmachine in which the ribbon is fed from one spool to another duringoperation of the machine, comprising an ink pad having an inkingsurface, and means for positioning said pad so that its inking surfacelies adjacent to a face of one of the ribbon spools and in the path oftravel of an edge portion only of the ink ribbon to provide a wipingaction be tween said edge portion and said inking surface only when theribbon is being fed from one ribbon spool to another, said padhaving aconfiguration such that its inking surface is spaced from the edges ofthe convolutions of the wound ribbon on said one of the ribbon spoolsadjacent to the inking surface of the pad.

3. An inking device for rejuvenating the ink ribbon of a typewritingmachine in which the ribbon is fed from one spool to another duringoperation of the machine, comprising an ink pad having an inkingsurface, and means for de tachably mounting said pad on one of theribbon spools so that the inking surface lies adjacent to a face of saidribbon spool and in the path of travel of an edge portion only of theink ribbon to provide a wiping action between said edge portion and saidinking surface only when the ribbon is being fed from one ribbon spoolto another, said pad having a configuration such that its inking surfaceis spaced from the edges of the convolutions of the wound ribbon on thespool on which the pad is mounted.

4. An inking device for rejuvenating the inktween said edge portion andsaid inking surface only when the ribbon is being fed from one ribbonspool to another, said pad having a configuration such that its inkingsurface is spaced from the edges of the convolutions of the wound ribbonon the spool on which the pad is mounted.

5. An inking device for rejuvenating the ink ribbon of a typewritingmachine in which the ribbon is fed from one spool to another'duringoperation of the machine, comprising an ink pad having a ring-shapedinking surface, and means for positioning said pad so that thering-shaped inking surface thereof surrounds and lies adjacent to a faceof one of the ribbon spools and in the path of travel of an edge portiononly of the ink ribbon to provide a wiping action between said edgeportion and said inking surface only when the ribbon is being fed fromone ribbon spool to another.

6. An inking device for rejuvenating the ink ribbon of a typewritingmachine in which the ribbon is fed from one spool to another duringoperation of the machine, comprising a casing containing an ink padhaving a ring-shaped inking surface, a resilient spring member forsecuring the pad in position within the casing, and spring clips on saidcasing for detachably mounting said pad on a face of one of the ribbonspools so that the inking surface lies adjacent to said face of one ofthe ribbon spools and in the path of travel of an edge portion only ofthe ink ribbon to provide a wiping action between said edge portion andsaid ring-shaped inking surface only when the ribbon is being fed fromone ribbon spool to another, said casing having apertured portionstherein to enable fluid ink to be applied to said ink pad at placesspaced around the periphery thereof.

ROBERT W. HARRIS.

Name Date Hanable Apr. 3, 1934 Beckman Apr. 28, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTSCountry Date Great Britain of 1942 Number Number

